College Football Helmets

2007-11-11T15:36:00.001-08:00

College football helmets (or the lack of them) have been the symbol of the sport since it the game was first played between Rutgers and Princeton way back in 1869. Before the NFL became so big, college football ruled the football landscape. 114,000 people attended the Army-Nave game in 1926, which was the most people ever to attend a football game, and this was before the NFL was even formed.

From those old, funny looking leather helmets, to the one bar facemasks that were better at saving teeth than their predecessor (but not much better), to the high-tech helmets that are being developed to reduce consussions.

My family would put college football helmets on top of our TVs to show our loyalty to everyone who came into our family room. My sister and I went to different schools whose teams rarely played each other but our schools' helmets were facing each other ready to do constant battle.

I still like to have some college football helmets on display around my place to show my loyalties. While we used to have to go to our college bookstores to get a helmet before, now we can order them online and have them show up at our door, just a small distance away from the TV where they'll spend the rest of their life.